to teach more plainly idealistic pantheism. But when she faces the issue squarely she denies emphatically that she is a pantheist.[1] Either she is ignorant of what pantheism is, or she is trying to avoid what she knows is a just charge and a telling objection to her system. The world's greatest pantheists are not materialistic but idealistic pantheists; for example, Buddha, Plotinus, Spinoza, Hegel. Of all pantheists Spinoza is the most thorough-going and pronounced and his pantheism is determined by his expressed identification of God and nature.[2]
In this identification Spinoza uses the terms “natura naturans” and “natura naturata”. This is a very good parallel to Mrs. Eddy's language. She identifies God with “noumena” and “phenomena”,[3] using terms that were made famous by Kant. Another of Mrs. Eddy's synonyms for God that should be recalled is the term “Ego”, which comes from Schelling. He attempted to combine the noumenon and phenomenon of Kant into one and named the product the “Absolute Ego.” Ego is the Latin first personal pronoun. Here we have pantheism tinged with a color of personalism. In Christian Science the tinge has faded out entirely though we have the meaningless sign, Ego.[4] The pantheism of Christian Science, however, is not so extreme a type as is
- ↑ Cf. Ch. Sc. vs. Pan. p. 6ff.
- ↑ Cf. Eth. 1. 29. Note. cf. Windelband's Hist. of Phil. 4. 2. 31. 5.
- ↑ Ch. Sc. vs. Pan. p. 18. cf. S. and H. p. 114.
- ↑ Cf. S. and H. pp. 204, 250, 281.
